The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation announces the winner of The Best of Edinburgh
Foundation brings the best of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to NYC’s Performance Space 122 in Spring 2007
New York, New York August 28, 2006—The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation is proud to announce the winner of this year’s The Best of Edinburgh Award, the highest honor at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The winner of The Best of Edinburgh was announced at the closing ceremonies of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Friday, August 28, 2006 at 10 AM GMT (5 AM EST).
This year, The Carol Tambor Award goes to GOODNESS. This production will receive its NYC premiere at Performance Space 122 from March 1 – 11, 2007.
From Canada’s internationally acclaimed theatre company, Volcano, GOODNESS arrived at the Edinburgh Fringe direct from its sold out run in Toronto. Performed at the Traverse Theater, GOODNESS is written by Michael Redhill.
A stranger in a seedy London bar hands a man a phone number. He calls it. An hour later, he’s in a woman’s apartment listening to an astonishing story: murder, war crimes, love. He can’t imagine what she’s been through. So he changes it.
Part mystery, part ethical dilemma, GOODNESS is an intricate knot of flashbacks and storytelling by a six-person cast. The elegant production, directed by Ross Manson, delicately interweaves South African and Central European folk music as laments from around the world.
The Scottish Herald hailed GOODNESS as “searingly intense…a near Pirandellian inquiry into the nature of truth, fiction, speculation and imagines history.” And the Scotsman declared that GOODNESS had “a series of beautifully orchestrated performances from its six-strong cast, an inspired, light touch use of traditional sung laments from African and central Europe, and an eloquent, free-flowing abstract production by Ross Manson.”
Carol Tambor is extremely excited about this year’s winner, saying, “GOODNESS is a remarkablly well written play, seen from the viewpoint of the central character, who is playing the author, Michael Redhill. It’s stunning direction brings the past and present together with the six actors brilliantly portraying multiple characters. It reminds us that we cannot forget past evils; yet, we cannot be quick to judge. What would we do if faced with similar circumstances?”
The committee that chooses the winning production is comprised of Carol Tambor and members of her Foundation, along with the Scotsman’s Arts Writers Joyce Macmillian, Jackie McGlone and Mark Fisher, and Performance Space 122 Artistic Director Vallejo Gantner.
To be eligible for The Best of Edinburgh, the show must be an original work, never seen in New York City, and have received a 4-star or 5-star review from The Scotsman, Scotland’s foremost daily newspaper.
The Best of Edinburgh builds a bridge between New York City and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. Created by Carol Tambor through her Theatrical Foundation in 2004, the inaugural award winners (Sister’s, Such Devoted Sisters and Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles) were given a four-day producer’s showcase in New York City. This showcase resulted in both shows being picked up for productions in the US and Canada.
In 2005, The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation and Performance Space 122 became presenting partners for The Best of Edinburgh, with the critically acclaimed NYC premiere of Andrew Dawson’s Absence and Presence (“Andrew Dawson’s one-man show is astonishing, and almost unbearably moving.” – The New York Times).
The partnership between The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation and Performance Space 122 fully realizes the original intention and spirit of the Foundation and the award. Both The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation and Performance Space 122 are committed to providing an exceptional and increasingly rare opportunity for new international work that would not otherwise be able to travel to New York to do so.
Carol Tambor is a portrait artist by trade and a theatre aficionado. For over a decade, she has traveled to Edinburgh to enjoy the Festival offerings. Dismayed by so many fine plays not transferring to NYC, she decided to create an opportunity for New York audiences to get a taste of the Edinburgh theatre offerings.
The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation was established to bring excellent dramatic work to the New York audience. The mission is to support artists in their desire to be seen and produced. The Foundation provides support with no future financial or commercial involvement in their success.
Founded in 1979, Performance Space 122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, and performance. Committed to exploring innovative form as well as material, P.S. 122 is steadfast in its search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures and points of view.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, has been ongoing since 1947. Fringe 2006 featured over 28,014 performances of 1,867 shows in 261 different venues throughout Edinburgh. The 2005 Festival sold more than 1,338,550 tickets during its 3 weeks, the third consecutive year the Fringe sailed past the one million ticket barrier. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has served as a launching pad for the careers of renowned stars such as Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Jude Law and Eddie Izzard as well as renowned playwrights like Tom Stoppard
Carol Tambor publishes a monthly newsletter, which announces worthy shows coming to New York, along with occasional information about London theatre and, of course, the Edinburgh Fringe.